Sainte Etienne: City of Design and History

Although buses dominate most public transportation systems, few innovations have been made in their design in recent years. This article discusses a bus design seminar that was held in Sainte Etienne, France, in November 2006. The program brought together designers, operators, organizing authorities and the manufacturing industry to present state-of-the-art design for buses and to identify gaps that need more attention. Because a bus designer must think in terms of a product life cycle of about 25 years, safety, security and efficient economic production aspects must be combined with aesthetic functionality and solid design elements. Although most participants agreed that improving the image of buses, as well as increasing passenger satisfaction and ridership, were primary goals, there was no clear consensus on how to achieve these goals.